Steve Hall is a Chartered Marine Scientist, a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology and the Society for Underwater Technology, and a member of the Board of the Marine Technology Society. 

Steve has over three decades experience in ocean science, technology, and policy. He served as Head of the UK delegation to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO 2013-17, and was elected as Vice-Chair IOC 2015-17, leaving for the private sector as CEO of the Society for Underwater Technology and later the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum & Marine Energy Wales. 

Steve worked 27 years for the UK Natural Environment Research Council mainly at the National Oceanography Centre, where his roles included seagoing tracer chemical analysis during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, managing the early Autosub AUV science missions, risk assessment for moorings, and a decade of policy work writing responses and position papers on a wide range of ocean subjects. He served as the UK & overseas territories tsunami warning national point of contact, as Head of the International & Strategic Partnerships Office, and as a representative to the European Marine Board.  

Today Steve works as a freelance consultant working on UN Ocean Decade-related projects, mainly the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project; supports the work of marine Learned Societies and Professional Bodies, and providing advice to industry & not-for-profit clients.  

Johan Hanssens is Secretary-general of the Department of Economy, Science & Innovation within the Flemish administration since 1 December 2015. He holds master’s degrees in economics and law from KU Leuven.  He started his career in the banking sector. From 2000 to 2015 he was advisor (deputy chief of staff / chief of staff) of different party leaders in Flanders and ministers in the Flemish government. He advocates transformative innovation policy in a ‘quadruple helix’ setting in which the four key actors governments, businesses, academics and civil society work closely together.

Dr, Karim HILMI, is physical oceanographer researcher at Institut National de Recherche
Halieutique (INRH - Morocco) since 1996 and currently holds the position of Research Director
within this institute. He obtained in 1995 his Master’s degree (MSC) in oceanography at the
University of Quebec at Rimouski (Canada) and his PhD in 2005 at Hassan II - Mohammedia
University (Morocco) in Physical sciences – Option Marine Hydrodynamic Modeling. Dr K. Hilmi
has assumed the vice-chaiperson of the electoral Group V (Africa and Arabic states) during two
mandates (2019-2023) and he is actually the National Focal Point at the Intergovernemental
Oceanograhic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) and a member of the National Ocean
Decade in Morocco. He has a pro active participation in IOC programs for many years, covering
multiple and different areas of IOC/UNESCO. During his mandate as vice chaiperson, he has
chaired many strategic groups and represented IOC interests in multiple fora. His knowledge
of the IOC/UNESCO Commission and its work, together for his experience since the last years
in IOC matters, motivates him more to desserve the African and Arabic interests, particulary in
the context of the launch in 2021 of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development. He has also several scientific publications. Since 1998, he was involved into IPCC
activities and has a strong expertise in Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability)
for the Assessment Reports (AR3, AR4, AR5, AR6) at the Intergovernmental as Contributing
Author (CA), Lead Author (LA) and Reviewer Author (RA) mainly for Africa and Ocean chapters.
He is a member of the national delegation at UNFCCC – COPs.